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Monday, December 7, 2015

The Christmas Letter

It is my most difficult task of the Christmas season. There is always a letter and card from my college friend, Sue. I know those Christmas family newsletters are annoying to many. I say this with all sincerity. I treasure it. One of my many regrets in life is not getting to know Sue during our four years at Marywood. We became good friends just before we graduated, so I wasted three and a half years. She's married. Great husband. Great job. Great kids. Great. She deserves it. My yearly challenge is to come up with a response. Here is my first draft.

Dear Sue:

As always, your card and letter are one of the highlights of the Christmas season. I'm thrilled you think of me every year, and I really look forward to hearing from you. Your life seems great, and that makes me very happy.

As far as the situation in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it's much the same, and I'm not complaining.

I've started using an iPad at work. I liked it so much, I bought one for myself-- and a new phone. That's a lot of technology, and keeping up with it is a full time job.

I'm still producing and anchoring WNEP's weekend morning broadcasts. It's been a long time. It's still fun. I'm lucky. I wouldn't argue with "blessed."

Another busy news year is about to wrap up. 2015 started off very cold and snowy. It turned hot in the summer. Fall was above normal. No hurricanes. No flooding.

Our attorney general kept us busy.

Penndot complicated our lives with endless construction. We're learning to live with needless and unnecessary roundabouts, which Penndot insists are NOT traffic circles.

I've slowed my pen and baseball cap collecting. I still have way too many ties, but I can't resist a sale.

Colbert and Corden are OK. However, they pale in comparison to Letterman and Ferguson.

5 Hour Energy is out. Berocca is in. I took my first sick day in two and a half years, and I was actually sick.

I'm trying to get used to the new sweetener formula in Diet Pepsi. It's awful, but I'm still not switching to another brand.

It was another busy year with the camera, and the blog, www.andypalumbo.blogspot.com, turned 11. I've even branched out in to video for the television station.

Still riding my bike, still going to the gym, and I found some shoes I really like.

Our alma mater seems to have a "turmoil of the week." It makes me sad. It WAS a good school, and it seems to have lost its way.

Well, that's 2015. The year has flown by.

Sue, it's great to hear from you. I really miss you. I hope 2016 is all you want it to be.